The Latest: Public land development to pay for parks upkeep

Updated 2:35 pm, Monday, February 12, 2018

Photo: John Locher, AP

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File- In this May 19, 2017, file photo, a man works on the Southern Nevada portion of U.S. Interstate 11 near Boulder City, Nev. President Donald Trump on Monday, Feb. 12, 2018, will unveil his long-awaited infrastructure plan, a $1.5 billion proposal that fulfills a number of campaign goals, but relies heavily on state and local governments to produce much of the funding. The administration’s plan is centered on using $200 billion in federal money to leverage local and state tax dollars to fix America's infrastructure, such as roads, highways, ports and airports. less

File- In this May 19, 2017, file photo, a man works on the Southern Nevada portion of U.S. Interstate 11 near Boulder City, Nev. President Donald Trump on Monday, Feb. 12, 2018, will unveil his long-awaited ... more

Photo: John Locher, AP

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FILE - In this July 9, 2017 file photo, Amtrak workers continue ongoing infrastructure renewal work beneath Penn Station in New York. President Donald Trump on Monday, Feb. 12, 2018, will unveil his long-awaited infrastructure plan, a $1.5 billion proposal that fulfills a number of campaign goals, but relies heavily on state and local governments to produce much of the funding.
The administration’s plan is centered on using $200 billion in federal money to leverage local and state tax dollars to fix America's infrastructure, such as roads, highways, ports and airports. less

FILE - In this July 9, 2017 file photo, Amtrak workers continue ongoing infrastructure renewal work beneath Penn Station in New York. President Donald Trump on Monday, Feb. 12, 2018, will unveil his ... more

The Trump administration's infrastructure plan includes $18 billion to create a public lands infrastructure fund for the Interior Department. Most of the money would come from revenue generated by energy development on federal lands.

The money would be used to whittle down an estimated $16 billion backlog in maintenance for national parks, wildlife refuges and other public lands.

The Interior Department has separately proposed $1.3 billion in the next budget year to address the maintenance backlog, which includes more than $11 billion for the National Park Service alone.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said the nation's parks and wildlife refuges "are being loved to death" and need significant work to keep pace with increased number of visitors.

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President Donald Trump rolls out his infrastructure plan Monday, which envisions $1.5 trillion in spending over a decade to rebuild roads and highways. The plan relies heavily on state and local government budgets to become a reality. (Feb. 12)

Media: Associated Press

1:30 p.m.

President Donald Trump's infrastructure plan is receiving a frosty response from Democratic members of Congress.

The president's plan would use $200 billion in federal money to leverage local and state investments. It also would change the permitting process to get projects underway more quickly.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., says the president's plan would raise tolls on commuters, increase the burden on cities and states, and sell essential infrastructure to the whims of Wall Street.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., says Trump's plan would put unsustainable burdens on local government and calls it a "plan to appease his political allies, not to rebuild the country."

Democrats have proposed an infrastructure plan that would entail $1 trillion in additional federal spending to jumpstart new projects around the country.

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12:01 p.m.

President Donald Trump's infrastructure plan calls for possibly selling two of the three major airports serving the nation's capital.

The president is calling for divesting federal assets when agencies can show the sale would "optimize taxpayer value."

The proposal lists Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Dulles International Airport as examples of assets that could be sold.

Other such examples of federal assets to be divested include transmission lines operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Bonneville Power Administration. Similar plans in the past have been met with stiff, bipartisan opposition.

Trump is also citing two major roadways in the Washington D.C. region that could be sold: the George Washington Memorial and Baltimore-Washington parkways.

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11:30 a.m.

President Donald Trump is urging Congress to pass what he's calling the "biggest and boldest" infrastructure plan.

Trump is making his case as he meets with a group of local and state officials, including governors, state legislators, mayors and country commissioners.

Trump says local leaders understand the challenges of funding infrastructure and says his is a "common sense and bipartisan plan" that Congress should support.

He also says Washington should be a partner to local governments and no longer "a roadblock to progress."

Trump's plan envisions using $200 billion in federal money to leverage local and state tax dollars to fix roads, highways, ports and airports.

The plan would fulfill a key campaign goal but rely heavily on state and local government budgets.

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10:10 a.m.

President Donald Trump is meeting with a group of governors, mayors and local leaders at the White House to build support for his infrastructure proposal.

The White House says the meeting will include governors from eight states: Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Maine, New Mexico, Virginia, Nebraska and Wisconsin.

A number of mayors will be attending from cities like Las Vegas, Fort Worth, Texas, Charlotte, North Carolina and Wichita, Kansas. The gathering will also include state legislators and county commissioners.

The White House is releasing a 55-page "legislative outline" on the proposal, which envisions spurring $1.5 trillion in spending over a decade to rebuild roads, highways and airports.

The proposal would rely heavily on state and local government for much of the funding.

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8:05 a.m.

President Donald Trump is predicting a "big week" for the roll out of his administration's infrastructure plan.

The president tweeted Monday that after "so stupidly spending $7 trillion in the Middle East, it is now time to start investing in OUR Country!"

The White House is unveiling its goal of spurring $1.5 trillion in funding over 10 years to rebuild roads, highways, ports and airports. The plan centers on using $200 billion in federal money to leverage local and state dollars for the projects.

Trump is meeting with state and local leaders at the White House on Monday to discuss the plan.

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1 a.m.

President Donald Trump is unveiling his long-awaited infrastructure plan, a $1.5 trillion proposal that fulfills a number of his campaign goals. But it relies heavily on state and local governments to produce much of the funding.

The administration's plan is centered on using $200 billion in federal money to leverage local and state tax dollars to fix America's infrastructure, such as roads, highways, ports and airports.

Trump has repeatedly blamed the "crumbling" state of the nation's roads and highways for preventing the American economy from reaching its full potential. Many in Washington believe that Trump should have begun his term a year ago with an infrastructure push, one that could have garnered bipartisan support or, at minimum, placed Democrats in a bind for opposing a popular political measure.